The Russellville American Legion baseball team knew they’d have their hands full for their double header against Bryant on Friday at Tech Field. The defending state champions returned with many of the same players they had last year.

Russellville opened the first of three games over the weekend with a doubleheader against Bryant, and as expected, Bryant was a sufficient challenge for the Russellville ballclub. Bryant defeated Russellville 16-1 in the first game and 8-3 in the second. Russellville finished the three-game stretch with a 6-2 win over Texarkana on Sunday at Tech Field.

“We got overwhelmed,” Milum said. “We looked a little nervous out there, but they [Russellville] continued to fight hard. I don’t think the score accurately reflected the way we played.”

Cody Underhill was 1-for-1 with a sacrifice bunt and a triple in the first loss to Bryant and Jacob Barker was 1-for-2 and scored Russellville’s lone RBI.

In the second game, Jordan Barnes and Jordan Haas were each 1-for-3 with a double and a run. Parker Thompson scored an RBI off a sacrifice fly. Corey Hottinger was 1-for-4 with an RBI.

“In the second game, we came out and jumped on to a lead,” Millum said. “If we hadn’ted given up a 3-run home run, then that scoreboard looks a lot different.”

Russellville snapped the losing streak with their final game of the weekend.

“We came out and we played well,” Milum said. “Austin Robinson gave us a good outing on the mound. Jordan Haas came in behind him and finished the job.”

Robinson struck out four and gave up two earned runs in five innings. Haas got the save with one strikeout, and no runs in the final four innings.

Haas was 2-for-5 batting with one run, a double and an RBI. Hottinger was 2-for-4 with a double, a run and 2-RBI. Andrew Elam was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

Russellville will be in action next on Thursday in the Pine Bluff Tournament.